This bill phases out the Special Needs Scholarship Program and caps the total number of pupils who may participate in a parental choice program.

Under current law, a child with a disability who meets certain eligibility criteria may receive a scholarship to attend a private school participating in the SNSP. The bill provides that, beginning in the 2020-21 school year, the Department of Public Instruction may not provide an SNSP scholarship to a child to attend a private school unless the child was attending a private school under the SNSP in the 2019-20 school year. In addition, if the child does not attend a private school under an SNSP scholarship in any school year after the 2019-20 school year, DPI may not provide an SNSP scholarship to the child for any subsequent school year.

The bill caps the total number of pupils who may participate in a parental choice program — the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, or the statewide parental choice program — at the number of pupils who attended a private school under that parental choice program in the 2019-20 school year. Under the bill, beginning in the 2020-21 school year, if the number of applications to participate in a parental choice program exceeds the program cap, DPI must determine which applications to accept on a random basis, subject to certain admission preferences that exist under current law.

Under current law, pupils may submit applications to attend a private school under the statewide parental choice program for the following school year from February 1 to April 20, and a private school that receives applications must, no later than the May 1 immediately following the application period, report the number of applicants to DPI so that DPI may determine whether a pupil participation limitation has been exceeded. The bill provides that, beginning with applications for the 2020-21 school year, DPI must establish one or more application periods during which pupils may submit applications to attend a private school under the MPCP or RPCP. The bill provides that a private school that receives applications during an application period must, no later than 10 days after the application period ends, report the number of applicants to DPI so that DPI may determine whether a program cap has been exceeded. The bill does not change the application period for the statewide parental choice program and requires DPI to use the information required to be reported under current law to determine whether the program cap for the statewide parental choice program has been exceeded.

The bill also requires DPI to establish a waiting list for a parental choice program if the program cap for the parental choice program has been exceeded.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB658,11Section 1
. 115.7915 (2) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB658,2,52
115.7915 (2)Scholarship requirements. (intro.) Beginning in the 2016-17 3school year, the department shall, subject to sub. (11), provide to a child with a 4disability a scholarship under sub. (4m) (a) to attend an eligible school if all of the 5following apply:

SB658,3,71115.7915 (11)Sunset. Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, the department 2may not provide a scholarship under this section to a child with a disability to attend 3a private school unless the child attended a private school under a scholarship under 4this section in the 2019-20 school year. If the child does not attend a private school 5under a scholarship under this section in any school year after the 2019-20 school 6year, the department may not provide a scholarship under this section to the child 7for any school year after that school year.

SB658,3,149
118.60 (2) (a) (intro.) Subject to pars. (ag)
and, (ar), and (bh), any pupil in grades 10kindergarten to 12 who resides withinin an eligible school district may attend any 11private school under this section and, subject to pars. (ag), (ar), (be), (bh), (bm), and 12(bs), any pupil in grades kindergarten to 12 who resides in a school district, other 13than an eligible school district or a 1st class city school district, may attend any 14private school under this section if all of the following apply:

SB658,3,1816
118.60 (2) (a) 2. g. If the pupil resides in a school district, other than an eligible 17school district or a 1st class city school district, the pupil was on a waiting list under 18sub. (3) (am) 4. or (ar) 4. in any previous school year.

SB658,3,2220
118.60 (2) (be) 3. Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, there is no limit on 21the number of pupils who may attend private schoolsthe limits under this section22paragraph do not apply.

SB658,623Section 6
. 118.60 (2) (bh) of the statutes is created to read:

SB658,3,2424
118.60 (2) (bh) 1. In this paragraph, “program cap” means any of the following:

SB658,4,31a. For an eligible school district, the total number of pupils residing in the 2eligible school district who attended a private school under this section in the 32019-20 school year.

SB658,4,64
b. For all school districts, other than an eligible school district or a 1st class city 5school district, the total number of pupils residing in those school districts who 6attended a private school under this section in the 2019-20 school year.

SB658,4,97
2. a. Beginning with the 2020-21 school year, the total number of pupils 8residing in an eligible school district who may attend a private school under this 9section during a school year may not exceed the program cap under subd. 1. a.

SB658,4,1310
b. Beginning with the 2020-21 school year, the total number of pupils residing 11in school districts, other than an eligible school district or a 1st class city school 12district, who may attend a private school under this section during a school year may 13not exceed the program cap under subd. 1. b.

SB658,5,315
118.60 (3) (a) (intro.) The pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian shall submit 16an application, on a form provided by the state superintendent, to the participating 17private school that the pupil wishes to attend. If more than one pupil from the same 18family applies to attend the same private school, the pupils may use a single 19application. No later than 60 days after the end of the application period during 20which an application is received and subject to par.
pars. (am) and (ar), the private 21school shall notify each applicant, in writing, whether his or her application has been 22accepted. If the private school rejects an application, the notice shall include the 23reason. Subject to par.pars. (am) and (ar), a private school may reject an applicant 24only if itthe private school has reached its maximum general capacity or seating 25capacity. Except as provided in par.pars. (am) and (ar), the state superintendent 1shall ensure that the private school determines which pupils to accept on a random 2basis, except that the private school may give preference to the following in accepting 3applications, in the order of preference listed:

SB658,84Section 8
. 118.60 (3) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

SB658,5,65
118.60 (3) (am) All of the following apply to applications to attend a private 6school under this section submitted by pupils who reside in an eligible school district:

SB658,5,137
1. A private school that has submitted a notice of intent to participate under 8sub. (2) (a) 3. a. may accept applications for a school year during application periods 9determined by the department from pupils who reside in an eligible school district. 10For each school year, the department shall establish one or more application periods 11under this subdivision, the first of which begins no earlier than February 1 of the 12school year before the applicable school year, and the last of which ends no later than 13September 14 of the applicable school year.

SB658,5,2014
2. Each private school that received applications under subd. 1. shall report to 15the department the number of pupils who applied under subd. 1. to attend the private 16school under this section and the names of those applicants who have siblings who 17also applied under subd. 1. to attend the private school under this section. The 18private school shall submit the report no later than 10 days after each application 19period described under subd. 1. during which the private school received 20applications.

SB658,6,621
3. After the end of each application period described under subd. 1., upon 22receipt of the information under subd. 2., the department shall determine the sum 23of all applicants for pupils residing in an eligible school district. In determining the 24sum, the department shall count a pupil who has applied to attend more than one 25private school under the program only once. If, after the end of an application period 1described under subd. 1., the sum of all applicants for pupils residing in an eligible 2school district exceeds the program cap under sub. (2) (bh) 2. a., the department shall 3determine which applications submitted during the application period to accept on 4a random basis, except that the department shall give preference to the applications 5of pupils described in par. (a) 1m. to 5., in the order of preference listed in that 6paragraph.

SB658,6,97
4. If the sum under subd. 3. exceeds the program cap under sub. (2) (bh) 2. a., 8the department shall establish a waiting list in accordance with the preferences 9required under subd. 3.

SB658,6,1710
5. A private school that has accepted a pupil who resides in an eligible school 11district under this paragraph shall notify the department whenever the private 12school determines that a pupil will not attend the private school under this 13paragraph. If, upon receiving notice under this subdivision, the department 14determines that the number of pupils attending private schools under this section 15falls below the program cap under sub. (2) (bh) 2. a., the department shall fill any 16available slot with a pupil selected from the waiting list established under subd. 4., 17if such a waiting list exists.

SB658,6,2219
118.60 (3) (ar) (intro.) All of the following apply to applications to attend a 20private school under this section only if the limitation under sub. (2) (be) applies to 21the school year for which the application is madesubmitted by pupils who reside in 22a school district, other than an eligible school district or a 1st class city school district:

SB658,7,121118.60 (3) (ar) 3. (intro.) AnnuallyAfter the end of the application period 2described under subd. 1., upon receipt of the information under subd. 2., the 3department shall, for each school district, determine the sum of all applicants for 4pupils residing in that school district under this paragraphand the sum of all 5applicants for pupils residing in all school districts, other than an eligible school 6district or a 1st class city school district. In determining
the sumthose sums, the 7department shall count a pupil who has applied to attend more than one private 8school under the program only once. After determining the sum of all applicants for 9pupils residing in a school district,those sums, if any of the following applies, the 10department shall determine which applications to accept on a random basis, except 11that the department shall give preference to the applications of pupils described in 12par. (a) 1m. to 5., in the order of preference listed in that paragraph
.:

SB658,1113Section 11
. 118.60 (3) (ar) 3. a. and b. of the statutes are created to read:

SB658,7,1614
118.60 (3) (ar) 3. a. The sum of all applicants for pupils residing in a school 15district, other than an eligible school district or a 1st class city school district, exceeds 16the school district's pupil participation limit under sub. (2) (be).

SB658,7,1917
b. The sum of all applicants for pupils residing in all school districts, other than 18an eligible school district or a 1st class city school district, exceeds the program cap 19under sub. (2) (bh) 2. b.

SB658,8,222
118.60 (3) (ar) 4. (intro.) For each school district in which private schools 23received applications under subd. 1. that exceeded the school district's pupil 24participation limit under sub. (2) (be), theThe department shall establish a waiting 1list in accordance with the preferences required under subd. 3. for each of the 2following:

SB658,133Section 13
. 118.60 (3) (ar) 4. a. and b. of the statutes are created to read:

SB658,8,64
118.60 (3) (ar) 4. a. A school district, other than an eligible school district or a 51st class city school district, for which the sum described under subd. 3. a. exceeds 6the school district's pupil participation limit under sub. (2) (be).

SB658,8,97
b. All school districts, other than an eligible school district or a 1st class city 8school district, if the sum described under subd. 3. b. exceeds the program cap under 9sub. (2) (bh) 2. b.

SB658,8,2011
118.60 (3) (ar) 5. A private school that has accepted a pupil who resides in a 12school district, other than an eligible school district or a 1st class city school district, 13under this paragraph shall notify the department whenever the private school 14determines that a pupil will not attend the private school under this paragraph. If, 15upon receiving notice under this subdivision, the department determines that the 16number of pupils attending private schools under this section falls below a school 17district's pupil participation limit under sub. (2) (be), or below the program cap under 18sub. (2) (bh) 2. b., the department shall fill any available slot in that school district 19or program with a pupil selected from the school district'sapplicable waiting list 20established under subd. 4., if such a waiting list exists.

SB658,1521Section 15
. 118.60 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB658,9,722
118.60 (3) (b) If a participating private school rejects an applicant who resides 23withinin an eligible school district because the private school has too few available 24spaces, the applicant may transfer his or her application to a participating private 25school that has space available. An applicant who is rejected under this paragraph 1or an applicant who is on the waiting list under par. (am) 4. may, subject to sub. (2) 2(bh) 2. a., be admitted to a private school participating in the program under this 3section for the following school year, provided that the applicant continues to reside 4withinin an eligible school district. The department may not require, in that 5following school year, the private school to submit financial information regarding 6the applicant or to verify the eligibility of the applicant to participate in the program 7under this section on the basis of family income.

SB658,168Section 16
. 118.60 (3) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB658,9,219
118.60 (3) (c) If a participating private school rejects an applicant who resides 10in a school district, other than an eligible school district or a 1st class city school 11district, because the private school has too few available spaces, the applicant may 12transfer his or her application to a participating private school that has space 13available. An applicant who is rejected under this paragraph or an applicant who 14is on thea waiting list under par. (ar) 4. a. or b. may, subject to sub. (2) (be) and (bh) 152. b., be admitted to a private school participating in the program under this section 16for the following school year, provided that the applicant continues to reside in a 17school district, other than an eligible school district or a 1st class city school district. 18The department may not require, in that following school year, the private school to 19submit financial information regarding the applicant or to verify the eligibility of the 20applicant to participate in the program under this section on the basis of family 21income.

SB658,1722Section 17
. 118.60 (4v) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB658,9,2523
118.60 (4v) (b) If the department considers a pupil as a resident of an eligible 24school district under par. (a) for a school year, the department shall ensure that the 25pupil is not counted for that school year for purposes of determining whether a school 1district has exceeded its pupil participation limit under sub. (2) (be) and that the 2pupil is not counted for that school year for purposes of determining whether a 3program cap under sub. (2) (bh) 2. a. or b. has been exceeded.

SB658,184Section 18
. 118.60 (4v) (c) and (d) of the statutes are created to read:

SB658,10,85
118.60 (4v) (c) The department may consider a pupil enrolled in a private 6school participating in the program under this section who satisfies all of the 7following as a resident of a school district, other than an eligible school district or a 81st class city school district, who is enrolled in the private school under this section:

SB658,10,109
1. The pupil was a resident of an eligible school district when the pupil applied 10to participate in the program under this section.

SB658,10,1211
2. The pupil accepted a space at a private school participating in the program 12under this section as a resident of an eligible school district.

SB658,10,1413
3. The pupil resides in a school district, other than an eligible school district 14or a 1st class city school district, on the 3rd Friday in September.

SB658,10,1715
4. The private school the pupil is attending under this section accepts 16applications under this section from pupils who reside in school districts, other than 17an eligible school district or a 1st class city school district.

SB658,10,2418
(d) If the department considers a pupil as a resident of a school district, other 19than an eligible school district or a 1st class city school district, under par. (c) for a 20school year, the department shall ensure that the pupil is not counted for that school 21year for purposes of determining whether the school district has exceeded its pupil 22participation limit under sub. (2) (be) and that the pupil is not counted for that school 23year for purposes of determining whether a program cap under sub. (2) (bh) 2. a. or 24b. has been exceeded.

SB658,11,31119.23 (2) (a) (intro.) Subject to pars. (ag) and, (ar), and (b), any pupil in grades 2kindergarten to 12 who resides within the city may attend any private school if all 3of the following apply:

SB658,204Section 20
. 119.23 (2) (b) of the statutes is created to read:

SB658,11,75
119.23 (2) (b) 1. In this paragraph, “program cap” means the total number of 6pupils residing in the city who attended a private school under this section in the 72019-20 school year.

SB658,11,108
2. Beginning with the 2020-21 school year, the total number of pupils residing 9in the city who may attend a private school under this section during a school year 10may not exceed the program cap.

SB658,11,2512
119.23 (3) (a) (intro.) The pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian shall submit 13an application, on a form provided by the state superintendent, to the participating 14private school that the pupil wishes to attend. If more than one pupil from the same 15family applies to attend the same private school, the pupils may use a single 16application. No later than 60 days after the end of the application period during 17which an application is received and subject to par. (ar), the private school shall 18notify each applicant, in writing, whether his or her application has been accepted. 19If the private school rejects an application, the notice shall include the reason. A 20Subject to par. (ar), a private school may reject an applicant only if itthe private 21school has reached its maximum general capacity or seating capacity. TheExcept 22as provided in par. (ar), the state superintendent shall ensure that the private school 23determines which pupils to accept on a random basis, except that the private school 24may give preference to the following in accepting applications, in order of preference 25listed:

SB658,221Section
22. 119.23 (3) (ar) of the statutes is created to read:

SB658,12,32
119.23 (3) (ar) All of the following apply to applications to attend a private 3school under this section submitted by pupils who reside in the city:

SB658,12,104
1. A private school that has submitted a notice of intent to participate under 5sub. (2) (a) 3. may accept applications for a school year during application periods 6determined by the department from pupils who reside in the city. For each school 7year, the department shall establish one or more application periods under this 8subdivision, the first of which begins no later than February 1 of the school year 9before the applicable school year, and the last of which ends no later than September 1014 of the applicable school year.

SB658,12,1711
2. Each private school that received applications under subd. 1. shall report to 12the department the number of pupils who applied under subd. 1. to attend the private 13school under this section and the names of those applicants who have siblings who 14also applied under subd. 1. to attend the private school under this section. The 15private school shall submit the report no later than 10 days after each application 16period described under subd. 1. during which the private school received 17applications.

SB658,13,218
3. After the end of each application period described under subd. 1, upon receipt 19of the information under subd. 2., the department shall determine the sum of all 20applicants for pupils residing in the city. In determining the sum, the department 21shall count a pupil who has applied to attend more than one private school under the 22program only once. If, after the end of an application period described under subd. 231., the sum of all applicants for pupils residing in the city exceeds the program cap 24under sub. (2) (b), the department shall determine which applications submitted 25during the application period to accept on a random basis, except that the 1department shall give preference to the applications of pupils described in par. (a) 21. to 5., in the order of preference listed in that paragraph.

SB658,13,53
4. If the sum under subd. 3. exceeds the program cap under sub. (2) (b), the 4department shall establish a waiting list in accordance with the preferences required 5under subd. 3.

SB658,13,126
5. A private school that has accepted a pupil who resides in the city under this 7paragraph shall notify the department whenever the private school determines that 8a pupil will not attend the private school under this paragraph. If, upon receiving 9notice under this subdivision, the department determines that the number of pupils 10attending private schools under this section falls below the program cap under sub. 11(2) (b), the department shall fill any available slot with a pupil selected from the 12waiting list established under subd. 4., if such a waiting list exists.

SB658,2313Section 23
. 119.23 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB658,13,2314
119.23 (3) (b) If the private school rejects an applicant because itthe private 15school has too few available spaces, the applicant may transfer his or her application 16to a participating private school that has space available. An applicant who is17rejected under this paragraph or an applicant who is on the waiting list under par. 18(ar) 4. may, subject to sub. (2) (b), be admitted to a private school participating in the 19program under this section for the following school year, provided that the applicant 20continues to reside withinin the city. The department may not require, in that 21following school year, the private school to submit financial information regarding 22the applicant or to verify the eligibility of the applicant to participate in the program 23under this section on the basis of family income.

SB658,2424Section 24
. 119.23 (4v) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB658,14,61119.23 (4v) (b) If the department considers a pupil as a resident of the city 2under par. (a) for a school year, the department shall ensure that the pupil is not 3counted for that school year for purposes of determining whether a school district has 4exceeded its pupil participation limit under s. 118.60 (2) (be)
and that the pupil is not 5counted for that school year for purposes of determining whether a program cap 6under sub. (2) (b) or s. 118.60 (2) (bh) 2. a. or b. has been exceeded.

SB658,257Section 25
. 119.23 (4v) (c), (d) and (e) of the statutes are created to read:

SB658,14,118
119.23 (4v) (c) The department may consider a pupil enrolled in a private 9school participating in the program under this section who satisfies all of the 10following as a resident of a school district, other than a 1st class city school district, 11who is enrolled in the private school under this section:

SB658,14,1312
1. The pupil was a resident of the city when the pupil applied to participate in 13the program under this section.

SB658,14,1514
2. The pupil accepted a space at a private school participating in the program 15under this section as a resident of the city.

SB658,14,1716
3. The pupil resides in a school district, other than a 1st class city school 17district, on the 3rd Friday in September.

SB658,14,1918
4. The private school at which the pupil accepted a space under this section is 19participating in the program under s. 118.60.